Out of Reach
by Stormfalcon
Summary: This takes place right after the season finale. It is my take on what might happen though i have added a little bit from my own mind. Hope you enjoy and please R
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or it's characters

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or it's characters.

Copyright: I own Viper so ask if you wish to use him.

Author's note: I have missed a lot of the episodes so don't get too mad if some of this doesn't fit please. Also I have used name director for the woman who was in the season finale episode. This takes place a while after that episode so please be kind and Review since it will help with the story.

A Unexpected friend

Max awoke in her bed in the hellhole that had become her life. She was still a prisoner and she knew that they wouldn't ever be lax again and that her chance of escape was feeble indeed. She really wanted to get away for she needed to let Logan know that she was fine and not dead like she knew that he thought. Of course she should be dead she knew that but her friend and older brother Zack had given his life for hers and she would always remember that and always cherish her memories of him.

Max got up out of bed and put on her cloths and sat back down on the bed. She knew that the man who she had started to refer to as Clod would be showing up shortly. She had started to call him that because he moved like a Clod. He was slow and yet deliberate in his movements though she knew that she could beat him in a fight with ease. He was just too slow and clumsy. Being clumsy was the reason that he was so slow and deliberate in his movements.

Sure enough after about five minutes he showed up and was carrying her breakfast with him like he did every day. They never let her out of her cell to eat with the others, the X-7's as the kids were referred to that were clones of the original X-5's. Max thought it ironic that she had escaped and when she had come back to destroy the place it was her younger self that had shot her and allowed her to be captured. 

Clod put down her food on the dresser that was in her room as they called it. She still saw it as a prison since the window had bars on it so that she couldn't crawl out. She went to that window now and pulled the curtains back. She had been told that she had been given the best room that the place had to offer but she didn't believe it. The room had more of a made up feel to it and she didn't like that at all.

Max looked out the window and saw that the sun had just crested the walls of the place and had painted everything with its yellow light. Max liked sundown better than sunup because sundown meant that she could go places and be herself. Night was her time and that was when she felt more comfortable at least when she was doing her thieving. She loved her day job and the friends that went along with it.

She wondered about that as she closed the curtains and went over to her dresser and sat down to eat. She hoped that she still had her day job if she ever got out of this damn place. She also hoped that her friends didn't give up on her and decide that she had moved or something. Those were her thoughts while she ate her breakfast and waited for the men to come and take her to her practice.

She finished her breakfast and about five minutes after that the men came that had their guns for protection though they wouldn't protect them if she really had wanted to hurt them. Max was led out of her room like every day with the men following her with their guns pointed at her back. She had to smile because she could get away from these men but the compound had the X-7's and she didn't know if she could get away from them.

Max was led down to the enclosed yard where the X-7's were being trained. She had taken to training with them because the director woman had insisted. She had said that Max had become lax and that training with the others would help her get back to being where she was supposed to be. 

Max wondered about that. She wondered if it was to be back in shape and her knowledge up to date on the new guns or if it was to train her to be obedient. She was guessing the latter. Of course no matter what they did to her she wouldn't ever forget who she was and that there was a life outside of this place. She would return to that life she vowed it to herself.

As the men led her to the yard she saw a man down there that she had never seen down there before. She wondered who he was and so asked over her shoulder, "Who is the guy down in the yard."

"Which one," the man on her left said in a clipped tone of voice. She knew that he was a soldier and wasn't supposed to be talking to her but she didn't really care. He didn't have to talk if he didn't want to. As she looked closer though she noticed that there was another man off to the side away from everyone and in the shadows. She wondered who he was as well.

"Who is the guy talking to the director," Max said referring to the woman who had taken over the place. She didn't care what her name was and was determined not to use it unless she absolutely had to. Max decided that the woman would be known as the director and that was what a lot of the other people called the woman.

"That man is a buyer for one of the X-7's I believe of course the fool doesn't realize that he will never leave this place alive. The director won't sell until they are done training them. So she can't let the man leave with his life," the man who had answered her before said a bit more warmly this time. Max wondered if she tried her feminine wiles on him if she could make him help her escape but then she dismissed the thought. She knew that no matter what she was basically stuck here because of the X-7's.

"Who is the other man in the shadows," she asked hoping to keep him talking. By now they were in the yard and the man in the shadows had turned his head to look at them but his face was shrouded in shadow. She couldn't see his face and it was making her wonder about him.

"That man is known simply as Viper. No one knows his real name and no one really cares," the man said as they stopped. She knew then that the men were just supposed to watch her and make sure she didn't try to escape like that was going to happen with a yard full of X-7's.

Viper she mused to herself. She knew that she was allowed to do whatever she wanted to here in the yard which included talking to whomever happened to be in the yard at the time. She decided to walk over to Viper and see if he would talk to him or if he was trained like the X-7's to not talk to her. She knew that it was going to be a long captivity unless she found a way to make a friend or two.

As she neared him he stepped out of the shadows toward her and she couldn't believe what she was looking at. The man was large and extremely well muscled. He stood six feet and three inches tall. He had to weigh around two hundred and twenty pounds which made him lean and not overly muscled to cut down on his speed. His hair was long and white hanging down to just past his shoulders. His hair was loose which made her wonder about him. If the hair got in his eyes then he could be killed with ease. His eyes were a startling shade of purple a color that she thought humans couldn't get. His eyes were what drew the eye to his face which was quite handsome she decided. The man stepped in front of her and smiled.

"You must be one the famous X-5's that I have heard so much about," the man said and Max shifted her feet a bit uncomfortable. 

"Please don't call me that. Call me by my name if you want to address me," Max said rather firmly.

The man bowed to her and said, "I am sorry my lady I was wrong. You must be Max am I right?"

She had never seen a man bow to her before but she didn't think that anyone remembered how to be chivalrous. She was a bit taken aback by what he said. How could he know her name unless he was told but she didn't really care how he knew what she cared about was that he was sorry and she could tell that he was. He was sincere when he had said that. She wondered if she could make him a friend or not and she wondered if he was member of one of the teams or what he was.

"How did you know my name," Max asked when she had just told herself that she wouldn't ask that.

"I make it a point of mine to know everything that goes on in this place. I also know how you were captured and who it was that shot you and where. I know that Zack gave you his heart which was a noble thing. I also know that you wish that you weren't here and that you want a friend," the man said to her in a voice low enough that only they could hear over the clamor of practice with guns.

She couldn't believe that he knew all that or if he was just guessing about some of it. She had told no one that she had wanted a friend and yet he knew it. She looked at him and said with a smile, "So are you an X-7 or what."

He flinched as if she had just hit him. She wondered what that was for but didn't say a word about it. He said in a cool voice, "I am not an X-7 or even an X-5. I am my own weapon. I was called Viper the day that you and the rest of them ran away. I was no older than any of you and yet they told me to hunt all of you down and find you. I did I found you Max and I found Zack and yet I didn't report either of you. I had seen how happy you were just being free and so I felt that I couldn't take that happiness from you. I returned here without any of you and I was punished. I was beat unconscious many times and I was stripped of everything that made me human. I had no contact with other people for more than two years. I was stripped of my name and given the name of Viper."

Max was sorry that she had said that and so she said hoping to make it right, "I am sorry Viper. I wish that I knew your name so that I could call you by it. I would like to get to know you if you would allow it. I am so alone here and I am starting to not like it."

He smiled at her and said, "The loneliness will never go away. The only time that it might is if you find yourself a man who fills a void within you. I will never find a woman who will do that I am sure of that. But I will tell you what I would be happy to be your friend and if they punish me for it then I know that I am doing something right."

Max smiled at him and shook his hand as he left. As he was heading across the yard he was attacked by a group of three X-7's. She didn't recognize them which meant that they were new and not clones of her class. 

"What's going on," Max demanded of the men who were watching her.

"He is being attacked," said one of them. 

"I can see that but why you moron," she said hoping that Viper wasn't as dense as these two were.

"Because the X-7's were told that the day that they bested him in combat then they were ready to leave the compound. It seems that at least once a week he has to fight off a group of them," said one of her guardians. She hated the two men because they didn't really explain anything and so she just decided to watch and see if she could learn anything.

Viper just stood there and waited for them. He had known that they were there and had known that they were going to attack him for the simple fact that they were tired of this place as well as Max was. The first boy came running in rather fast and threw a punch for Viper's stomach which he took. The kid was tough but Viper was tougher and it didn't even make him flinch. Viper reached down fast and grabbed the kid and hit him in the head knocking him out with one punch. While Viper had been dealing with that kid one had snuck up behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee. Viper fell to his knees and as the kid did a roundhouse kick for his head he ducked under it and did a sweep kick of his own which brought the kid tumbling to the ground. As he was laying on the ground Viper stood up slowly and that gave the kid plenty of time to get to his feet. The kid backed off though and didn't attack again. Next came a girl and she punched for Viper who just stood there and took punch after punch. Max was wondering about it and then it hit her. He wouldn't ever hit a woman she knew that he would rather die than hit a woman or girl. It was part of that being chivilrous thing that he was. She shook her head and knew that that was going to be his death one day.

After a time the girl got tired of hitting him and backed off. Viper reached down and picked up the first kid that he had knocked unconscious and walked over to the director woman. He dropped him at her feet and hissed, "You need to teach them better if you ever want them to best me. The rules still stand though no guns."

Viper walked off then not looking back. He didn't care about anyone behind him and yet he was starting to wonder if he didn't want to leave this place. He wondered that if he was given the chance if he wouldn't leave as well. He honestly didn't know because being here in the compound was the only life that he had ever known. 

Max had been stunned with the ease with which he had beaten the kids. The fight had been so fast that it had almost taken no time at all. The punches and the kicks had flown so fast that it was hard to track them with the eye. She knew though that Viper was an amazing fighter at that moment and she knew that she needed to get him on her side. She needed to get him to help her get out of this damn place. 

There was one thing that was bothering her though and so she walked up to the blonde haired director woman and said, "Why didn't they use guns if they wanted to beat him?"

"So you decided to talk to me finally huh. Well it is only right after I had your life saved. We could have let you die but we didn't," the woman said off handedly while she gazed down at the unconscious boy.

"That didn't answer my question," Max persisted in that way that she had.

"Oh they could have used their guns but they want to be sold and if they had used their guns that would have broken the rules. You see if they want to be sold then they have to best him in hand to hand combat which will prove just how dangerous they are. Anyone can kill a person with a gun but to kill with your bare hands is a true skill. I honestly don't know if anyone can beat Viper anymore with Zack dead," she said as she shook her head and walked away from Max.

Max decided that she should do some exercises and so she worked out for most of the day with the X-7's. She noted that they were faster and stronger than she was but that she had the combat experience where they lacked that. It would be what saved her life one day if she ever had to fight them.

After that she was lead back to her room and another night of being alone. It was that night that she cooked up a plan that she hoped would work. She thought that if she told them that she was in heat then they would send her some man with his gun which she could easily overcome and take his weapons. After that because they would think that she was still in her room with the man she would sneak out and try to find that Viper and talk him into helping her out. 

As she woke up in the morning she waited for the man who brought her breakfast. She smiled wickedly as he opened the door and she slid up close to him and rubbed herself up against him. "I need you now. I need a man now," she purred.

The man looked uncomfortable and he tried to move away but she just sidled up a little closer. "What is your problem," he asked nervous as his eyes darted this way and that and his heart beat faster and faster which Max could feel.

"I need you to make love to me now. I am in heat you fool didn't they tell you about me and a side effect of some of what they did to me," she purred again to him as she batted her eyelashes at him. 

He backed out of the room and ran down the hall after locking the door. He burst into the room where his commanding officer was playing poker with some other officers. His commanding officer stood up from the table and yelled at him, "What the hell is wrong with you private!"

"It is the girl that we captured. She says that she needs a man sir and that she is in heat sir," the private said as he saluted and stood at attention.

"Well I should tell the director then," the commanding officer said as he took his leave of the poker table but not before taking his winnings and grabbing his cigar.

Ralin walked into the director's office after being announced and explained the situation to her. She sat there looking at him and smiled savagely. "Well if she truly is in heat then we have to send her a man or it will drive her crazy. I have studied that part of the female files," she said.

"Yes ma'am but who should we send to her. I really don't want to send any of my men and I think that it should be someone that she can't easily handle in case she wants to try to escape," Ralin said in a respectful tone of voice for he was talking to someone who outranked him.

"Yes you are right and I had been thinking about who to send to her when this happened. I was thinking about sending her one of the X-7 boys but they are still too young and she would want someone who will satisfy her I believe. That and I want to see if she can breed. If she can then that would be amazing," she said musingly.

"Who do you have in mind," Ralin asked.

"I was thinking that the only person that she couldn't overcome is Viper. He would be perfect because she couldn't control him or any such thing. He would do what he was told and that would be the end of it where most human men will allow themselves to be persuaded to help her because she had giver herself to them. Men are fools and women know that and it is what Max is counting on," she said as she smiled. "Send her Viper and we shall see if he even knows what to do with a woman."


	2. Orders Defied

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel 

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel 

Copyright: I own Viper so please ask me if you wish to use him.

Rules Broken

Viper was laying on his bed with his arms behind his head. He had his eyes closed and was thinking that he was really starting to get tired of being a pawn. He was thinking that he would become one piece in the game that changed it's worth. He was thinking that he should become a piece such as a knight which was so much more dangerous than a pawn. A pawn was controlled and manipulated which was something that Viper was truly tired of. He wanted to be his own person like Max was but he just didn't see how that was going to happen.

Viper felt that even though he wanted to become another piece in the game of chess he knew that he was stuck as a pawn. He moved his hands down to his side and rolled onto his side. He was nearing sleep when he heard steps coming towards his room. He knew that it was a army boy since the boots made a specific sound on the tiles. Viper rolled over and sat up. He let his eyes adjust to the light as he turned his light on. 

Viper looked over and saw that it was light outside and he knew that he had been up all night brooding over something that had never bothered him until Max had shown up and talked to him. She was a enchanting woman he thought. She would make a man very happy if she ever found one that she could love with all her heart. Viper hoped that she could. 

There was a knock at his door which he had been expecting since the steps had stopped. "Come in," Viper said as he pulled on a shirt. He hated to be disturbed but he knew that he could do nothing about it. He looked over and saw a familiar lackey of the Director's. The man standing there was Ralin and he was nervous though Viper couldn't blame him. Ralin had seen Viper tear the throat out of a man for hitting one of the girls from the X-7 group. Viper had shown no remorse and to tell the truth he hadn't felt any. Any man who would hit a girl was a man who needed to be hurt.

"What do you want," Viper demanded and had the satisfaction of seeing Ralin move from one foot to the other nervously.

"I was told to tell you that you are to go to Max's room. You know the X-5," Ralin said as he looked at Viper though he tried not to look Viper in those strange colored eyes.

"First of all you will refer to her as Max at least in my presence. If you ever refer to her as the X-5 again I may have to remove a bodypart. Second why am I to go there," Viper said coldly.

"Yes fine whatever. You are to go to her because according to her and the Director she is in heat. You are to do your duty," Ralin said and a small smile played about his lips.

"My duty," Viper asked not understanding what they he was talking about.

"You are to sleep with her in other words. Make her happy. She needs to breed you fool and hopefully you know what you are to do with that thing between your legs," Ralin said as he laughed. "Now hurry up and get dressed though those cloths won't stay on long from what I am told."

"Fine," Viper said as he finished dressing. He didn't like what he had been told. He knew what being in heat was and he guessed that it was a side effect of the animal genes in Max. He didn't really want to have her in that way though. She didn't love him and he didn't want to take advantage of her because of a weakness. He knew that she loved someone else but he would do his duty as he had always done.

*****

Max was wondering what was taking them so long. If she had really been in heat then she would have been going crazy by now. They really didn't know how to treat a lady though she would never admit to being a lady. She paced back and forth in her room wearing nothing but her nightgown that they had given her. She had not wanted it to begin with but then she had thought that if she was going to be there she might as well use what they gave her. You never knew perhaps something would come in handy.

She kept glancing out the window and watched as the sun slowly climbed higher and higher in the sky. She had guessed that the man had been gone for about an hour or so when she heard footsteps coming towards her door. She counted two sets so that meant that one of the men was for her and the other was escorting him to her. Her heart sank. She figured that if one of them was being led to her then they wouldn't have let him have his gun or knife or anything which meant that her ruse had been called.

She walked over and stood in front of the door and waited. She put her hands on her hips and thrust her hip out a little to entice hoping that she could take them both by surprise. She was willing to use sexual suggestions to her advantage if they worked but she didn't know if they would. She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and just watched the door with all the intensity that a animal could muster. 

She felt like an animal she decided. She was trapped and surrounded by enemies. She wanted to get away and yet they kept her in captivity. She knew that freedom was there but it was just out of her reach and if she could just reach a little farther then it would be in her grasp. She smoothed her face and waited as she let a small smile play about her lips.

The door opened and in stepped a man who she had never met before. It wasn't the man that she had sent off to get her a man to bed though that was for sure. This man had the look of a officer of some kind. He held himself well and seemed to know what to expect. He looked her up and down like many a man had and she ignored his gaze, "So it seems to me that you could have taken even longer if you tried. A girl gets mighty lonely here all by herself." Max nearly purred on those last words hoping that he was the man that was sent to her.

"Hold it here I am not for you. No the Director has decided that you need more of a man than any of us so she sent you a special gift," the man said smiling widely at her. What the hell could he be smiling about. They surely couldn't have known her plan could they? Of course not she hadn't told anyone and they weren't that smart. She decided to play along though.

"Oh and who does she feel that is right for me," Max asked as innocent as she could though she let her eyes play over Ralin like a man does to a woman. It was the look that said she needed him and he was her prey. She had gotten the look many a time but of course the men were fools and they weren't the hunters. 

"Well you will just have to see. Now I must retreat and let him in here. I do hope that the two of you hit it off right away and enjoy yourselves," he said as he backed out the room with a large smile plastered across his face which Max would have been more than happy to wipe off.

She was ready for anything or so she thought. She had prepared herself for the worst when he had said that the Director had chosen. She had thought that it might be one of the X-7 boys or even a very ugly stupid man who they had picked up off the street but who stepped into the room shocked her. She did a good job of hiding her shock though or so she hoped because who walked into her room and shut the door behind him was the man she had spoken to in the yard. Standing across from her was the man they called Viper.

The only two in the room were Max and Viper and she could tell that he didn't know what to do and she wasn't sure that he knew what the deal was. She was too surprised to speak for a couple of minutes and he did his job of being quiet while she recovered herself. She looked at him and couldn't deny that he was handsome but to be honest with herself she had no wish of attempting to beat him in combat because she was pretty sure that she would lose.

"Do you know why you are here," Max finally asked though it was a stupid question and she knew it as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Yes I believe that I do. Now if you will excuse me for a second," Viper said as he walked over to the camera that was hidden in the wall. Viper puched through the wall with a ease that made Max nervous. He pulled the camera from it's niche and smiled into it. "Well director I am here but I must say that I don't appreciate a audience." He then smashed the camera on the floor.

"They had that there the whole time," Max said and it was not a question. She should have known but she had been heart-broken over Zack to even truly think properly. When she did they sent her Viper and her plan went all to hell. She wished that they would have been stupid and sent her a normal man with his weapons. She would have liked that because she might have been able to get away.

"I understand why I am here but I am sure that what you told them was just a ruse am I right," Viper said as he gave her a half smile. 

He knew! How many others had guessed she wondered. Well she figured that Viper was a bit smarter than the others and if he was the same way that she was then he might be able to tell if she was lying or not. She guessed that Viper was just smarter though and the others had no clue that she was faking.

"Well if you know then what are we going to do," max asked as she sat down on the edge of her bed. 

"We are going to sit here and talk. And after a while I will leave and they will never be the wiser unless you wanted something else," Viper said as he raised an eyebrow.

"No I would like the talking part I think," Max said as she laid back on the bed then and looked up at the ceiling.

"Very well then what would you like to talk about," Viper asked in all seriousness which almost surprised her though it shouldn't have. Viper was different than other men she could tell. He didn't want to do anything that would harm a woman and she knew that he would do his best to keep her happy since she was a prisoner.

"I want you to tell me about yourself," Max said though she knew that he wouldn't answer. Of course when he spoke he surprised her yet again.

"About myself huh. Well there isn't much to tell. I don't remember most of my youth. All my memories of are of death and destruction. There is a little training mixed in with those memories but not much," Viper said as he thought about the question.

"That's not what I wanted to know. I want to know about you, about what you think and what your dreams are," Max said hoping to get him to open up. She knew that if he didn't one day he would go off the edge of humanity and he would become nothing but a killer that didn't care about anything. She didn't understand why she cared but for some reason she did. Maybe it was because he was so different than everyone or maybe it was because he was kind to her when a lot of people weren't. 

"I am Viper Max. That is my name and truth to tell thanks to a lot of testing I have the quickness of one. I also have the strength of a rhino which they tied in with other animal genes to make me exceptionally strong. I have the sight of an eagle and the hearing of the best of animals. I am the product of research upon you and other groups. I am the fruitation of all their work and I have the best of all the animal kingdom has to offer," Viper said formally as he felt he was talking to someone superior at that question which he wasn't sure but he might just be. She was superior to him in the knowledge of how people interact. He had no clue about that and knew that if he ever left this place then he would be a hermit.

Max didn't like that and she knew about being part animal. She also knew that he didn't care what had been done to him. He had accepted it and had grown to love himself she thought. It was strange she was thinking and then she caught a look at his neck. There was a barcode there but it wasn't numbers. It was a single word and it said DEATH. She didn't comment on it though and instead asked him, "Viper have you ever loved anyone."

"Love is nothing but a relative term. To love is just to like someone real well. Who is to say though that love is truly a emotion but not a way of our bodies to procreate. Who is to say that the feelings we interpret as love are not but pulses that our bodies send out to ourselves letting us know that it would do good to mate with a certain person. I believe that love is a means to an end for our bodies and genes. So in answer to your question Max no I have never loved anyone," Viper said and stood up and walked over to the wall and leaned against it.

He looked at Max and couldn't help but say, "You are truly beautiful. You are the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen. Your eyes hold a depth of pain and understanding that few people could ever comprehend. They are eyes that know about the world and know how to help others see the good even if you don't see it yourself. Your eyes don't lie to you. Your hair is the perfect shade for you and you are nearly perfect." He was embarrassed that he had said that and he could tell that she was uncomfortable with what he had just said. He felt that he should say something else.

Max hadn't believed the answer he had given for the question that she had asked. He had never loved anyone or anything from what she could tell. She was then taken aback by what he said after answering her question. She couldn't believe that he had said that. She had been told she was beautiful before but what else he had said was all new to her. 

"Listen," Max said. "If we don't at least make some noise they will know that I was faking and then we will both be in trouble."

"Fine do whatever it is that you do or tell me what I am supposed to do," Viper said. Max gave that sultry look that she knew she was so good at giving and smiled ever so slightly at Viper. She threw herself from the bed at him and he caught her and she threw her body against his to make it sound like they were thumping the wall.

*****

The Director wasn't happy that Viper had torn the video camera out of the wall and what he had said had also made her angry. He had been a fool by tearing that out of the wall though he didn't know it. He had done the same thing with his room and made periodical checks to make sure that no new camera's were installed. He really didn't like being watched she gathered though she didn't really care. She had needed to know if Max had been telling the truth or not. Now she didn't know.

As she sat there she started to get angry at Viper and at Max. She hated Viper and he knew it. Of course he also knew that he was too valuable and that she wouldn't risk killing him until one of the X-7's bested him in combat. At that time she would finish him off if the X-7 didn't. She was looking forward to the day when she could put a bullet in his head. He was too smart and too good at what he did for his own good.

She sent for Ralin after about twenty minutes without knowing if Viper and Max were having sex or not. It was not a good twenty minutes and she had built herself to such a fury that when Ralin appeared she said, "Go get Viper and escort him back to his room at gunpoint if necessary. Take Max to the torture chamber because I need to know how much pain she can take if she is going to be one of our operatives. I need to know so that I know how much torture she can take before she breaks. Go now."

Ralin did his job without question but he wondered if that was the best course of action considering how Viper felt about Max. He was protective of her for some reason and Ralin didn't want to take any chances. Ralin though knew his job and so went and got five men. They went straight to Max's room.

*****

Max was sitting on the edge of the bed with her hair mussed. She had mussed it on purpose hoping that it would seem like she had had a wild one. She had gotten on the bed because she had wanted them to think that she had gotten respectable for the men when they came barging into her room. Max and Viper had heard them coming and so had prepared themselves.

The door burst open then and three men walked over and seized Viper. "We are to escort you back to your room Viper," one of the men said.

"All right," Viper said and as they started to lead him out of the room and thought came back to him. A name floated to the forefront of his thoughts and he knew who that name belonged to. He knew that the name was his and he wondered how he could remember it now but he knew that he had to tell Max. 

"Hey Max," he called to her as he started out the door. He saw that Ralin and two other men had her and we starting to lead her out of the room. He wondered what they wanted with her but he figured that it was something to do with the director. He needed to tell her though. "Max."

"Yeah what you are so damn clingy," she said in a hard voice. He knew that it was for the benefit of the guards. She didn't want them to know that they were fast becoming friends or at least it seemed that way to Viper. 

"You can call me Kale from now on," he said as he was lead away with a gun in his back. Apparently it hadn't worked out the way the director had wanted. He had done something wrong and now he was to be punished for it and that was fine by him. They wasn't much they could do to him anymore that they hadn't already done.

He hoped that Max was going to be fine though. He didn't want to get her in trouble. He liked Max too much to allow her to get in trouble but he had a feeling that she was to at least be yelled at and possibly confined to her room for awhile for a slight that Viper had done to the Director.

He was taken to his room and then he was shoved into his room and he heard the door slam behind him and heard it locked. He gave a small smile because he knew that the door couldn't hold him if he wanted out but he decided that he would wait for the Director to come to him and when she did he and her would have a little talk.


	3. Thoughts of Escape

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or it's characters

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or it's characters.

Copyright: I own Viper so please ask me if you wish to use him.

Escapes Thoughts

Max was led from her room at gunpoint and since she really didn't feel like getting herself killed at the moment especially since Zack had died for her she went quietly which she could tell surprised the men. They led her down halls and through doors that she hadn't even known existed. 

Max was led through one room that had weapons strung all over the walls and some out of date weapons were in a corner such as a sword and a bow with a quiver of arrows that looked as if they were made of aluminum. She noted all this and filed it under her memory for later use. She felt that if she did get a chance to escape she would need weapons and this seemed to be one of the places where she could get what she needed.

Another room held tubes and there were men and women in the room wearing lab coats of pure white which Max thought ironic since the people were anything but innocent. They had tampered with mother nature and had created things that the world had no need of. It also seemed as if they were trying to improve upon the X-7's for later use in a war or some such.

Max wished that she could just get rid of the entire place but she knew that was impossible and so she would content herself with what she and her friends had accomplished the night that she had been shot and captured. They had saved many a person from what had been done to them and that was something that she was proud of. 

She didn't hate herself like she figured many normal people would think that she should. She was who she was and there was nothing that could change that. She was a person though a person with a few extreme abilities that allowed her to fight better and other such things. Of course those abilities of hers had been used for the sole purpose of getting money from people.

Her mind was pulled back to the present and where she was when she heard a grunt of pain. She noticed that she was in a new room now. The room had red walls that were undecorated. There were machines placed throughout the room that were hooked up to a couple machines in the middle of the room. Strapped to one of the machines was one of the X-7 boys. He was in tremendous pain but he never cried out all he did was grunt. His grunting was the only sign that the pain even affected him.

Standing in the room was the Director with a smile on her face. She looked over to Max and said pleasantly, "It is such a pleasure to see you again Max. I take it that the man I sent was to your satisfaction in the bed?"

Max was taken aback. She hadn't even thought that the Director would be the one that the man would have run to in order to send her a man for her little ruse. The Director had outsmarted Max it seemed but Max felt that it would be best to play her part through and Max felt that she was a decent actress. "Oh he was very satisfactory I must say. He could go nonstop for quite a while. He pleased me very well," Max said with slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

The Director just looked at Max and said, "I am glad but that is not why you are here. Oh no you are here for another reason. If you are to be a part of the team then we need to see how much pain you can take. We need to see just how much torture you can take before you give in to anything that a enemy who captures you wants."

"Oh come now I don't think that is right. I mean I am not much of a team player and all. I think it would be best if I just went back to my room," Max said a bit nervous but she didn't let it show.

"Release the boy," the Director said as she gestured to two men who stepped forward and unstrapped the boy from the table that he was laying on. "Now put her on that table and Max," she said as she looked at Max, "Don't try anything unless you want to end up like Zack."

Max let herself be led to the table and she allowed herself to be strapped down and they then took off her shirt so that she was wearing nothing but her undershirt. They didn't want the pull over shirt on her since in would dampen the effect of the machine. "Now start it up," the director said and a man sitting at a machine reached over and turned a button on.

The machine hummed to life and Max felt electricity surge through her body and then she felt water being thrown on her which made it worse. She tried no tot scream and she succeeded for a short time but then the pain got to her and she couldn't help herself. If felt as if her skin was on fire and she couldn't take it anymore.

The men tried other tortures on her and she was fast starting to lose her mind she felt. All there was that she felt and thought was pain. And that was only in half a hour. She knew that they wouldn't be through with her for quite a while and she was scared for the first time a quite a while.

*****

Viper was sitting in his room with the guard outside when he heard a knock at his door. He had no idea who it would be but the smell was that of Max. He wondered about that since it was obvious that they didn't want him around her anymore. Viper went to his door and opened it expecting to find a dead guard with Max standing outside his door. He was a bit surprised at what was standing at his door though.

Standing outside his door was a girl who was no older than twelve with short hair and a face that would one day grow to look like Max's. The younger version of Max just stood in the doorway waiting like a good soldier to be given permission to enter. She followed orders better than any of the other students even though the Max he knew didn't. 

Viper noticed that the guard that he figured would be dead was in fact only knocked out. He shook his head with a slight smile on his face and said, "You might as well come in since you shall be punished for being here anyway."

She walked into the room and he noted how fluid her movements were. They were the movements of a warrior who was always waiting for trouble. The girl walked over and stood next to the bed and said, "Thank you for letting me enter. May I have a seat?"

"By all means," Viper said as he gestured for her to sit down. He was taken by surprise because he had never heard any of the X-7's talk. Now there was one in his room that was talking just like any other person would be. She was breaking orders and he knew that she would be in trouble if anyone found out.

The young Max sat down and looked at Viper. She was impressed by him more so than she was with the X-7 leader Zack. Zack was good but the young Max liked Viper because he didn't follow orders without question. Zack followed without question and the young Max hated following orders since sometimes it was best not to in order to save themselves.

The young Max wasn't sure what her name was though. The only one who had been given a name was their leader Zack so that they knew who was in charge. It was a way to keep them in line without having them have an identity. The girl wished that she knew what her name was.

That wasn't the reason that she was there though. She was there because her older self was in trouble. She had seen Max taken down to the torture room where they tested the limits of them. They tested the limits of their pain tolerance and the girl hated it when they did it to her. She could only imagine what it must be like for Max since she wasn't a X-7. 

"What is the problem," Viper asked as he sat down next to her.

The girl looked up at him and Viper could have sworn that he saw sadness in her eyes as she looked at him. "It is that Max is in trouble Viper," she said.

"What do you mean she is in trouble," Viper asked.

"I saw her taken to the torture room where they will test her pain tolerance," the girl said.

Viper looked at her and slowly stood up. "The director is starting to test me to the point of breaking. Thank you Ariel," Viper said as he headed for the door.

"Ariel," the girl asked as he neared the door. 

Viper stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder at her. "Yes Ariel that is your name. I broke into the files one time long ago and memorized everyone's name and certain other details. I thank you for the information and as such I will give you your name back since they took it from you," Viper said and then he stalked out of the room.

He was surprised to see that one of the X-7's had compassion. He wasn't surprised to see that it was Ariel though. She was just like Max everything about her except her name. He decided that they could make the X-7's better but they couldn't take away the basic human instincts of them. Especially when it came to Max she was one who had always wanted something different and he started to think that he might just help Ariel out of the place when he helped Max escape. 

He smiled to himself because he knew that he had decided that he was going to get Max out of there because she didn't belong there. She belonged where she was with that man Logan and with her friends. Viper was going to make sure that Max got out of the place without being hurt more than she already has been.

He headed downstairs where he knew that the torture room was. He had been there before and after they had found out that he didn't scream in pain it had taken all of the fun out of it for them and they had never taken him back. That had been when he was twelve. He knew his way there yet though and he headed straight there.

As he turned a corner he heard a scream and knew that they had started in on Max. The scream sent shivers up his spine because it was a scream of pure and utter pain with nothing else. He knew that they must have been doing something to her that not even she could endure and he knew that if she was screaming then it would be life threatening to her.

He picked up his pace as her screams echoed down the halls and followed him everywhere as if mocking him saying that there was no way that he could help her because he was too slow and too weak. He ran harder and harder and rounded a corner and collided with two men who were wearing the uniforms of the Director's personal guards. They fell back and he just kept on running as they shouted at him to stop.

Viper couldn't stop though Max's screams wouldn't stop and they were in his head now urging him on and telling him to not stop for anything. On he ran and he knew that he was drawing close since the screams were so loud now that they set his sensitive ears to ringing.

Viper burst into a room that he remembered from when he had been taken to the torture room. It had guns and other weapons lining the walls though none of them would actually work since he had tried that day and found out the hard way that they were all nothing but replicas of the actual guns. He had grabbed one and turned on the men escorting him who had laughed at him as he had pulled the trigger and nothing had happened. The men had come forward then and hit him in the head with the butts of their guns.

Viper saw the door that he needed and ran to it and turned the latch. It was locked but the door was only steel and he could break it off it's hinges in he hit it hard enough with his body. He stepped back across the room. Another scream cut through the air and nearly sent Viper to his knees it held such anguish and terror. He hoped that he didn't shatter his shoulder when he hit the door and instead the door gave under his impact. Viper cracked his knuckles then and his eyes hardened as he charged forward.

*****

Max screamed again and this time she was scared. She thought that they were going to kill her and even though she would never admit it death scared her just like it did most people. Her body was on fire from being electrified again and again. They had done that for more than ten minutes and then they had moved her to the machine that she was on currently.

It was a table where she was strapped down but there was a laser above her. It was used to cut her in strips but never too deep. They didn't want her to scar or anything so bad but the pain that the laser inflicted was more than anything she had ever felt. It was made for nothing but pain she could tell since it burned the flesh as it cut. They couldn't leave the burns alone though and had to put salt on them and her cuts. She was near unconsciousness now.

Her eyes were drooping but she fought to stay awake. She wouldn't give the Director anything to be happy about. Her throat was raw from screaming and yet still she was screaming. Her body was so sore she didn't know if it would ever heal or if she would just die from the pain. That was when she heard a loud SMASH!!

*****

The Director was enjoying herself immensely. Whenever she was in a bad mood she always came here and it cheered her up to see others in pain. Many felt that she was sadistic but that wasn't it. First of all it was good for them all to learn pain tolerance and secondly it was nice to hear a scream since it meant that they were alive. 

She watched as Max neared unconsciousness and noticed that she fought to stay awake. She had to commend Max since not many could have taken what she had taken because the machines were set to near death level for the X-7 kids. Max should have been dead by now but she fought tooth and nail and it was nice to see that she was worth saving that day. Of course it was a waste of Zack when he killed himself but that couldn't be helped and so she made due with what she had.

Just as she was about to give the signal to increase the laser another degree the door burst open flying off it's hinges and taking one of the guards who had been standing in front of it out. The door hit him and his head caved in from the metal and without turning around the Director knew who it was.

*****

"YOU WILL STOP THIS NOW DIRECTOR," Viper yelled as he stepped into the room and over the corpse of the man who had been unlucky enough to be in front of the door when he had knocked it down. Viper looked around and saw that the guards were so nervous that some of them had wet themselves. The Director was looking at him calmly and Max was strapped to a table.

"Why should we do that," The Director asked calmly as she gazed at Viper with a hint of contempt in her eyes. "You are to follow orders and I order you out of this room. Leave now!"

"No," Viper said simply as he walked over to the table where Max was and started to undo the shackles that held her in place. He started at her feet and was having a hard time with the metal.

"I gave you an order and you are refusing it do you know what that means. It means that I can have you killed for disobediance," the Director nearly yelled at him as she stepped forward.

"What did you think that you were doing to Max Director. The machines are set on death level for anyone in this building but me. You see youa re a fool and nearly killed Max here. If you wanted her alive then you would have been sorely disappointed if this had continued another three minutes. She would have been dead in that time from the shock to her body," Viper said hoping to reason with the Director.

She stepped in close and slapped him in the face and yelled, "Leave her there for she isn't done. We need more readings."

"If you need more then use me huh," Viper hissed as he reached down and yanked the metal clamps from table and Max was free that quick. The Director stepped back because he had never used that tone of voice with her and she knew that he was dangerous at that moment because he was very angry. 

"I am taking her with me and I will tend to her wounds. If you need to find her then she will be in my room now if you have nothing else for me I will be leaving with my charge," Viper said as he gingerly picked Max up in his arms. He set her head against his chest so that it didn't flop around and cause her more damage. She was bleeding bad and he knew that he had to stop the bleeding which he would do when he made it back to his room. 

He headed out the door and Max snuggled in closer to his chest though she was unconscious and couldn't have known what she was doing. It made Viper nervous but he didn't stop to ponder over it. He had a life to save and he would do it even if it meant that he had to give his life up. 

The Director watched him go and hated him all the more. Damn him! Why did he always have to ruin everything for her. She was having so much fun and then he had to show up and then he took the girl! He just took her! How dare he when she was a prisoner. Well she would get even with him oh yes she would. She had been meaning to teach him his place for quite a while now and she finally had a reason to now. She smiled as Viper carried the little tramp out of the room.


	4. Escape

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or it's characters

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or it's characters.

Copyright: I own Viper so please ask me if you wish to use him.

Escape

Viper carried Max to his room and sat her down on his bed. As he did he noticed that he was covered in blood, her blood. Thankfully though she had stopped bleeding but he knew that he needed to clean the cuts in her body or they would become infected and even she would die then.

He walked off into his bathroom and looked around. He opened the medicine chest and found what he was looking for. He pulled out the bottle of rubbing alcohol and grabbed himself some soft cloth that he had in his room for his own cuts when he received them from training. 

Viper didn't trust the Director's doctors to clean and fix his own wounds and he wouldn't trust them with Max's either. Max was too expendable now that they had the X-7's and Viper didn't care what the Director said the Director felt that Max was expendable or else she wouldn't have just tried to kill her off with torture.

Viper pulled up a chair to the edge of the bed and looked down at Max who lay with curled up with her head cradled in her arms and her knees pulled up to her elbows. He thought that she looked so fragile there and so peaceful and he knew that she was anything but those things. 

There could be no peace for her while she was a prisoner and as far as fragile he knew better than that. She was extremely tough as she had proven time and time again by getting away when they thought that they had her captured. She was an amazing woman he knew and he wouldn't let anything happen to her. He felt that she needed to have her life back and he would do what was necessary for her to have it.

He didn't want to disturb her peace but he knew that he had to. It was the only peace that she had he knew but if he didn't clean the cuts now they would start to get infected and he wouldn't allow that to happen to her. He grabbed a small bowl and dumped the alcohol into it. He then placed the cloth into the bowl and let it soak while he went and found another bowl and some other cloth. He filled this new bowl with water and soaked the new cloth in that bowl then as he took up the cloth soaked in alcohol.

Viper took a breath and then rubbed the first cut he came to. As the cloth touched Max's skin where the cut was her eyes snapped open and she went to cry out but then bit her tongue so as not to. She looked around quickly to see where she was as it dawned on her that she was no longer being tortured. She saw that she was in a room somewhere and someone was tending her wounds. She looked over to see who it was and was shocked to find that it was Viper. He was being so gentle it was hard to believe that the hands that he was using to clean her cuts were the same hands that could crack a human skull with little effort at all.

Viper noticed that she was looking at him and he smiled at her to reassure her that she was all right now. "You are fine now Max," he said gently as he wiped another cut and his cloth came away with blood on it. 

Max looked at him and frowned for he was covered in blood. He was helping her which she knew was going to cost him later and it seemed as if he didn't even care. She wondered how she had gotten to where she was and who had made them stop with their torture of her. She doubted that it had been Viper though it would be a good thought to have if it was.

"How did I get here and who made them stop with the torture," Max asked in a voice she could hardly recognize as hers it was rough from screaming.

"You got here because I carried you and that is why I am so bloody. As to who made them stop that was me as well Max. I won't abide the torture of you for any reason especially the one that they gave me," Viper said vehemently. 

Max was taken aback by that statement. She wondered what reason they had given and she was starting to wonder why he was helping her out so much. He had no reason to and the more he helped her the more he ran the risk of being killed outright for disobeying orders. She was truly touched that he had helped her though and so said quietly, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Viper said and looked up at her in concern as she inhaled sharply as he cleaned yet another cut. This one on her thigh.

"What is wrong," he asked with true concern in his voice. He hoped that nothing was wrong with her that he couldn't fix because that would mean that she had to go to the doctors. 

"Nothing is wrong it is just that it burns," she said hoping that she didn't sound like too big of a wimp.

"Oh it is supposed to burn that way you know that it is cleaning," Viper said the relief evident in his voice.

"God it hurts though," Max said through clenched teeth.

"I know I have had to do this to myself many times. You aren't the first one to be tortured like that and you won't be the last. All I can promise is that it will be the last time for you," Viper said. 

"Oh and why is that," she asked slyly with a twinkle in her eye as Viper stopped his ministrations. 

"Because I won't let it happen to you again," he said matter of factly and the tone of his voice was enough to send a shiver down even her spine.

"Now lay here and rest. You will need a couple of days to heal and then you and I will do something. In the meantime I have things I need to do and don't worry about any of them coming here after you. They know that if they touch you then they will die I made that clear," Viper said as he stood up abruptly.

"Where are you going," Max asked, suddenly not wanting to be alone.

"No where important. I will be back shortly I promise," Viper said softly and then he walked out. Max couldn't believe the man! He was a bit different that was for sure. She was glad though that he had helped her even though she felt that he had cost himself something that was important to him. 

She laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes knowing that he was right. She needed to rest and if she did then her body would heal all the faster. She hoped it took only a couple of days since she hated being laid up for long. As sleep claimed her the last thoughts were of Viper.

*****

In the four days since the torture Max had been healing good. She was up and around and was really wanting to leave the room and do something anything! She was pacing back and forth when Viper walked into the room with a bundle thrown over his shoulder. 

"What is that," she asked as he sat it down gently as if whatever was in it was breakable.

"This," he said as he opened the top of the bag and a child stood up that Max remembered only too well. The eyes and the face that looked back at her were her own. They belonged to the girl who had shot Max and nearly killed her. They belonged to the girl who had cost Zack his life.

"Why is she here," Max demanded harshly. More harshly than she had intended.

"Because she is the one who told me what they were doing to you. She is also the one who felt bad about what she had done to you and she is the one who feels that you are like a sister in a way to her," Viper said gently.

"What do you mean," Max demanded.

"Just what I said is what I mean. She is sorry for what she did and she wishes to leave this place just like you did all those years ago. I promised to take her with me when I left. I am leaving today in a few minutes Max," Viper said.

"What," Max stammered out not quite understanding what Viper had just said.

"I am leaving and you are both coming with me. I keep my promises," Viper said as he reached into the bundle and pulled out two swords and put them on so that they made on X on his back. Next he pulled out of the sack that the little Max had been in a bandolier of knives which he strapped onto his chest. He put a knife in each boot and then a throwing star on each forearm. 

"Oh by the way Max this is Ariel and Ariel this is Max," Viper said making the introductions.

"Nice to meet you," Ariel said in a tone of voice that was cultivated to give nothing away. Not to let her feelings show though it was easy to tell at least to Max that she was trying to be more like a normal person. Max admired the girl for standing up to the Director and telling Viper where she had been. In fact Max probably owed the girl her life.

"Nice to meet you as well. I thank you for telling Viper where I was," Max said as the girl stood shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"What is it," Max asked frowning.

"Just do it," Viper said from where he was standing watching the two of them.

"Do what," max asked again. At that time the girl rushed forward and before Max could act the girl Ariel threw her arms around Max in a hug. "What's this."

"I . . . I just felt that it was right," Ariel said as she pulled away then and Max saw Viper smiling slightly.

"Let's go," he said then. 

"What about weapons for us," Max said as she indicated herself and Ariel.

"Don't worry you will get them soon enough," he said as he turned to the door.

He opened the door and stepped out not caring who saw him. He was Viper and that should be enough for most of them. He hoped that the Director didn't suspect what he was up to though or else he was going to have quite the time of freeing them. He motioned for them to follow him and they started down the hall. As they rounded the corner though he saw that the corridor was packed with men in uniform with their guns aimed at them.

*****

The Director was pacing back and forth in her room. She hated not knowing things and she hated Viper even more for making her not knowing what was going on. It had been four days since he had taken Max and in that time she hadn't been told one thing about the girl. She wanted to know if she had died if she had lived or what the hell the deal was.

She saw her reflection in the mirror and glared at it. She hated Viper more than anything! Damn him for being the way that he was. She should have killed him when she had the chance but she hadn't and that had been one of her biggest mistakes. She wouldn't make that mistake again though.

She knew that max was alive even without the intellect to tell her that. She knew that he had cared for her like she was the love of his life or some such. She also knew that she could wound him if she took Max. She knew many things and the least of which was that he was going to try and break Max and the younger Max, Ariel, out. Of course he would fail but it would be fun to watch him try to get out.

She would lose some men but that was their job. They were supposed to give their lives for her at a whim if she so chose and well she was choosing now. She had sent some men to guard the only way out from Viper's room after he had retrieved the girl Ariel from the X-7 quarters.

She had to admit that he was good though because he had almost got her without being detected. Almost though didn't count and he had been seen. He was now nothing more than another pawn in the game and he didn't even know it. She smiled then because she had never lost a game of chess in her life. She wouldn't lose this one either. Of no Viper was going to die today for she had armed the X-7's with guns and told them that they were now allowed to shot him on sight. The rules were revoked and if they killed him then they were allowed to have their freedom to a certain extent.

She smiled broadly then for she knew that it was just a matter of time. He was dead and she would be happy because she would have not one but two X-5's for herself then. The fully grown product which was near perfect. Yes it was going to be a good day after all even though it had started off bad with her having to torture one of her guardsmen to death. At least she had gotten some enjoyment out of his screams for mercy. He had deserved what he had gotten though for he had attempted to rape one of the women that the Director was training for a special mission. She felt that she had given justice while still getting her own enjoyment. She wondered at that moment how Viper was faring.

*****

"Get back," he yelled as he shoved the Max and Ariel back around the corner. He leapt back just as bullets came flying down the corridor at him. He had just gotten back around the corner in time to miss getting hit. He growled deep in his throat and his eyes seemed to glow Max noted. Had it not been for everything that had been done to him he would have been dead for no human had reflexes like his.

"Damn the Director guessed what I was doing. Now I have to kill these men in order to get us out of here," He growled. He looked over to Max then to make sure that she was holding up. He didn't want her cuts to reopen even though they were mostly healed. It would be worse that way if they did reopen for they wouldn't stop bleeding and that would leave a trail for their enemies to follow right to them.

"What are we going to do," Max asked him already knowing the answer and she had prepared herself. She had been flexing her muscles and stretching without Viper noticing. 

"Now I go kill them while the two of you wait here," he said as he as he stood up.

"What do you mean," Max demanded as she stood up and glared at him with those beautiful eyes. She put her hands on her hips and he thought that she had never been more beautiful. He didn't want anything to happen to her to mar that beauty. She had that look that could almost make him like normal men and want her. Almost.

"I mean that I won't put you in danger unless there is no other way. First of all I am better at this than either of you and second they fear me which is to my advantage," Viper explained.

Max hated it but she knew that he was right. Man she didn't want him to do this but she knew that he had to. She also knew that he was telling the truth when he had said that he didn't want anything to happen to her. She loved him for that but she also loved Logan and she wouldn't betray him in any way. "Alright then," she said and gave him a small smile.

That smile made his heart warm. With her dark skin and her eyes that held such a sultry look to go along with that smile she was like a goddess. He had never seen a woman so beautiful and he felt that he could die happy of course he had no intention of dying at all. That would bring too much pleasure to the Director.

He cracked his neck and then charged around the corner as he drew two knives from his bandolier. He threw the two knives and they embedded themselves in the throats of two men. Even as those were in flight though he had pulled another two and thrown them. He was moving with such speed that he was like a blur to the men who were hoping to kill him. 

Four of them fell in the blink of a eye and then there was a demon among them with flashing swords that trailed blood as they sliced into men's arms and legs. There were six men left when Viper was among them. He sliced left and a man fell with his throat sliced and then one fell to his right as he ran him through the chest with his blade.

The remaining four pulled their guns onto him but before any of them could shoot he had stepped in close to two men and he punched one in the face and stabbed the other in the leg. As the one man fell back clutching his broken nose Viper threw his sword overhand and the sword took the man in the chest. Viper turned to the one who was holding his wounded leg and he came in fast. Viper stuck the man in the stomach and yanked the man's gun from his limp fingers. Viper turned in time to see the other two men shoot at him. Viper spun to the side and only got hit once in the shoulder which didn't stop him from firing two shots each hitting a man in the head. As those two men fell Viper reached over and tore his sword from the man who was still standing next to him holding his stomach where the sword had been lodged.

"Finish me fast please," the man mumbled as blood trailed from his mouth. 

"Alright," Viper said as he reached up and jerked the man's head to the side breaking his neck and killing the man instantly.

He looked around at the carnage he had wrought and shook his head. What a waste he thought. They may have had families but he doubted it. Part of the requirement was that you couldn't have a wife or kids if you wanted to work for the Director. She didn't like family interfering with her men.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the dead men hoping that it would bring them peace in the after life. 

"I see that you are truly as good as they say," Ariel said as she and Max came up to him. In truth Max couldn't believe what she was looking at. She wasn't sure but she thought that she would have lost. Viper though had killed ten men and had only been slightly wounded in the effort.

"Let's go," he said as he pulled two knives free of the dead men. He didn't wipe them off he just sheathed them which meant to Max that he was expecting to need them again. She noticed to that he had left two knives for some reason. She reached down then and picked up a .45 and two clips to go with it. She didn't need one of the rifle's but that is what Ariel picked up. She felt more comfortable with one in her hands than with a pistol.

Viper led them down the halls and though other rooms that neither Max nor Ariel had ever been to. "Where are we going," Max asked finally after they had passed through what was a trophy room with animal heads all over in it.

"We are getting out of here and I am hoping to not meet any more men," Viper said as he led them outside for the first time.

Max couldn't believe she was outside. She loved the smell of the fresh air along with the smell of rain on the way and the sounds of the wildlife that lived near the compound. She looked around and reveled in the sunlight shining down on her face. She turned to it and closed her eyes and just let the outdoors engulf her.

"This is lovely," Ariel said. She had never been allowed to enjoy anything like the outdoors. There had always been drills to be done or other such things. There had always been a leader there that she had to obey and they had never allowed her to enjoy anything.

"Viper what do you think of this," Max breathed as she smiled over at him. She looked at him and frowned. He was holding his side but she didn't remember anyone shooting at them. "What is it."

"Nothing I am fine. We need to get moving. We have about six hundred yards to go before we make it to the trees and once there we will be safe," Viper said as he pushed himself away from the wall. Max noticed though that when he moved his hand away from his side it was covered in blood. She figured that he had stopped a trap so that it hadn't done anything to her or Ariel.

They headed across the open ground and after no more than a hundred yards they heard gunfire and bullets started to tear into the ground all around them. They turned around and saw the X-7 kids running after them and they were gaining. "Stop or you all die right now," one of the boys yelled as he pulled up and aimed right at Max.

"Stop," Viper instructed them.

"Let us go for the rules still stand," Viper yelled back.

"No I can't allow it," the boy yelled back. 

"Go and don't look back Max, Ariel. This is the only chance you are going to get," he whispered to them.

"No," Max said right back.

"Just do it or we all die. At least let me die for a reason," Viper said to her with pleading in his eyes.

"Let's go Max," Ariel said. "Give us the word and we will run."

"Go now," Viper said as he charged the X-7 group. The X-7's shot but only two of them did and Viper stepped into the line of fire so that he took the bullets in the arm. Max and Ariel made it to the trees and they didn't look back.

The X-7's turned and walked back into the building and as they entered it a few men came out wearing their uniforms. They came towards Viper and had their guns trained on him. 

Max and Ariel watched from the safety of the trees. They saw that Viper stood up slowly and looked at the approaching men. Max frowned though and asked Ariel, "Why did the X-7's leave him be."

"Because we respect him more than anyone. You see to them the rules still stood no matter what they had been told. My guess is that the Director had told them to kill him on sight but they couldn't do it because they respected him too much. They had shot him and that had cheapened the win that they would have gotten had they stood there and fought him," Ariel explained to Max who nodded her understanding.

Viper looked at the men and growled, "What do you want with me."

"Well I want your death you insolent fop," came a woman's voice from behind the men in front of Viper. He knew the voice for it belonged to the Director.

"Too bad I don't die easily," Viper hissed just like his namesake.

"I know," she yelled at him from the safety of her shield of human flesh.

No matter what she did she couldn't get Viper to die. She had sent the X-7's after him and they had turned their backs on her! They hadn't followed the order she had given them! They had shot him and then left him there. Damn she wished that he would just die and make her life easier though she needed some information first.

"Where are the girls," she asked a bit more calmly.

"I don't know. My guess is that they are at least a mile from here by now," Viper said as he smiled at her.

"Damn you," The Director yelled as she slapped him in the face. She turned on her heel then and knew that he wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know. She walked back to the building. As she was walking away though she heard something that sent a shiver down her spine. 

As the Director walked away Viper leaped to his feet and stabbed the two closest men with the knives from his boots. There were only five men left then. Viper kicked out and caught one man in the knee and it shattered. The man fell to the ground screaming in pain. Another man shot his gun and the bullet tore into Viper's side as he spun away. He yanked two knives free and threw them. They caught two men one in the eye and the other in the heart. But as the men fell they pulled the triggers on their guns and the bullets tore through the air. Viper took five more hits two in his left arm and two in one of his legs. The last bullet caught him high in the chest missing anything vital.

Now there were only two men and Viper growled at them. The men were so scared that the front of their pants were wet. Viper launched himself through the air and he got hit in the shoulder again as he grabbed one man by the throat and tore it out as the man looked at him with terror in his eyes. The last man dropped his gun in fear and ran. He didn't get very far though as Viper caught up to him. "You die now for serving a evil bitch," Viper hissed at the man as he snapped the man's neck.

"Oh God," the Director said as she put her hand to her mouth. She had watched Viper kill another group of men with ease. He as bleeding from so many wounds that anyone else would have been dead but he was still standing. He turned slowly to her and started towards her. 

He stopped about fifteen feet from her and said coldly, "You have this one chance to change. If I have to come back here then I will kill even you. The first woman I will have ever hurt will be you."

She knew that he was telling the truth but she still hated him. She nodded her head though and said, "I will change I will." She didn't want to die so she would say anything that she needed to.

"Good," Viper said as he turned and limped towards the forest. The Director ran into the building and was hoping to get some more men but she couldn't find any. She guessed that they were all too scared of him. 

Viper was nearing the edge of the woods. He was about fifteen yards from the forest when a gun fired and the sound echoed. Viper's eyes grew wide as he pitched forward. Max couldn't believe it. She looked and saw that the man who had shot was the man with the broken leg. She pointed and Ariel nodded. She pulled down on the man with her gun and fired. The man stiffened and he didn't move again. Normally a gun wasn't accurate at seven hundred yards but they were specially made guns so that they were accurate up to nine hundred yards.

Max ran out and grabbed Viper and pulled him back into the trees. She carried him for awhile and then sat him down. She looked at him and he was barely breathing. His eyes fluttered open and he said, "Just go and leave me here. It is the only way that you will survive."


End file.
